


Fortune Like This

by thatzodiacsky



Category: Fire Emblem: The Sacred Stones
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-07-29
Updated: 2013-07-29
Packaged: 2017-12-21 19:43:23
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 833
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/904132
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/thatzodiacsky/pseuds/thatzodiacsky
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Joshua had marked cards, rolled loaded die, and hidden all sorts of things up his sleeve.  He’d won horses, gold pieces, and once an entire wine cellar.  But no bet had ever brought him fortune like this.  Tumblr Request.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Fortune Like This

Joshua had marked cards, rolled loaded die, and hidden all sorts of things up his sleeve. He’d won horses, gold pieces, and once an entire wine cellar. But no bet had ever brought him fortune like this.

"Sit up straight," an insistent murmur came from his side, and with a roll of his eyes he complied.

"You ain’t my mother," he reminded Natasha, and she blinked slowly back at him. Her hands were folded neatly in her lap and her chin was bowed. To the outsider’s eye, she looked every inch the subservient wife. But Joshua of all people knew better, and the knowledge more delighted than intimidated him.

When he’d met her, Natasha had been a frightened girl, shrinking and shivering in terror. Even though he remembered that day as vividly as if he was staring at a painting of it, he couldn’t reconcile the person she had been with the person she was now. 

There was steel in her shoulders, and a certainty to her quiet voice that anyone else would find easy to miss. He couldn’t have picked a better queen for Jehanna if he’d been trying.

Sprawled just a bit in his throne, he watched her speak with a young couple who’d approached to beg aid. Something about sandstorms and cows, but he couldn’t be assed to listen properly. She, on the other hand…Natasha’s blue eyes were focused on the two’s faces, a small frown on her lips. Though she held no staff in her hands, Joshua watched her work her magic as she spoke with them. The lines around the young man’s eyes were softening, and the young woman’s posture straightened a bit, the weary hunch slowly falling away from her shoulders.

Though Natasha couldn’t promise much aid to them— and he didn’t even have to listen to what she said to know she’d promised exactly enough— the two looked much happier when they left. 

That was exactly what Joshua was talking about. He’d tried time and again to describe the effect she had on others. He’d brought up the fact that she was everyone’s preferred healer back in the army days, that their comrades would line up for just a few minutes with her to tell her their troubles. He’d mentioned what a common sight it was to see her fixing Vanessa’s braid or the straps on Amelia’s too-big armor. But she never seemed to understand just how much she helped them all. And if she didn’t understand that, of course she wouldn’t be able to understand how beautiful she was while she did so.

She looked up now, her gaze catching his, and he realized with a start that that had been the last of the visitors for today. He knew she’d noticed his surprise when she smiled, lips pressing tight together like she thought she’d better not, and she looked down at her hands again. 

Getting to his feet, Joshua stretched and worked the kinks out of his back, caused no doubt by his awful posture. A servant came close to inform them that it was time to get dressed for dinner. Natasha thanked him in a quiet voice, and then he left the two alone in the throne room. 

Natasha gathered her skirts around her as she stood, a bit stiff as well. She wouldn’t do anything as undignified as stretching like he had, but he was there in a moment, one hand cupping her elbow and the other on her shoulder, kneading slightly at the muscles there. She bit the inside of her lip.

"On average, how much do you think you payed attention today?" Her tone was one of mild curiosity. Even when she was displeased with him, she never had to raise her voice to make him feel like the worst king and husband in the world. But she was open and soft in the way she stood today, and she met his eyes finally, the fingers of one hand curling into the folds of his sleeve. A wide grin grew on his face.

"Maybe half the time."

It was an improvement. Also a lie. 

Her sigh was tiny, so soft one might have mistaken it for just a breath, but not him. He was an expert in Natasha, and he knew fond exasperation when he heard it. The hand on her elbow moved to her waist, and he bent down to kiss her softly.

It had taken her awhile to let him get this close, and though it’d been years he still relished it, lingered in the kiss, his thumb curling against the bare skin at the base of her neck.

Dinner was still waiting though, and she stepped back after a moment, conscientious of their surroundings as always. She didn’t have to speak to remind him they had somewhere to be, and with her hand tucked into his elbow they swept from the hall, turning towards the stairwell.

"You were amazing today," Joshua told her, and she smiled.


End file.
